Spartans Split with Green Terror in Season Finale; Therres, Schlorff Close Out Careers

May 02, 2012

YORK, Pa. – The York College softball squad closed out their 2012 campaign a doubleheader split against visiting McDaniel on Wednesday in York. The Spartans fell 4-2 in eight innings in game one before bouncing back in game two with a 5-2 non-conference triumph. York concludes the season with a 14-24 record while the Green Terror stand at 24-12 on the year.

Game one, which proved exceptionally quiet until the seventh and eighth innings, saw the Green Terror snag the win in the eighth. York led 1-0 through six as starter Brittany Therres shutout McDaniel and only allowed two hits over the first six frames. However, the top of the seventh saw the Green Terror knot the game at 1-1 on a Laura Mertz double. With Amy Baumgardner on first, Mertz knocked a two-bagger to left centerfield as Baumgardner raced around the bags to tie the game. Mertz then advanced to third on a Leigh Bloom groundout, the second out of the inning. Putting the ball in play, Lindsey Bloom reached on a Spartan error allowing Mertz to come to the dish for the Green Terror's first lead of the game.

York answered in the bottom half of the seventh to tie the contest at 2-2. Loading the bases, Katie Wickert came home to tie the game at 2-2 as Erin O'Leary was hit by a pitch. Unfortunately however, that would be the only run the Spartans mustered in that frame as Caroline Brehm, who had come on once the bases were loaded initially, quelled any hope for a bottom-of-the-seventh Spartan win.

In the top of the eighth, the Green Terror notched two in the frame to take the lead once again and ultimately the game-one triumph. With runners on second and third, Sam Stitely singled down the right field line to plate Stacey Armacost and move Rachel Sidney to third. Sidney then came home for a Green Terror insurance run on a wild pitch. That run provided the final margin and the 4-2 triumph for the Green Terror.

The Spartans went out front early with a 1-0 lead after their turn at bat in the bottom of the first. Senior Brittany Schlorff ripped a triple and then came home on an O'Leary single into center.

Game two saw the Spartans once again take the first lead, owning a 2-0 advantage after posting a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Following a Green Terror run in the top of the fourth to slice York's lead to 2-1, the Spartans answered back by scratching across two tallies in the bottom half of the inning. Vanessa Mendez led of the inning with a single and was promptly pushed to second via a Wickert sacrifice bunt. Cara Rubinaccio then singled to center as Mendez moved to third. Rubinaccio then swiped second and Mendez came home on the throw through to second. An alert Rubinaccio then went to third on the play. That proved vital to York's second run of the inning as Hannah Hugel, a 2012 All-Capital Athletic Conference first-team selection, laid down a bunt base-hit that brought home Rubinaccio.

After McDaniel notched a run in the top of the fifth, the Spartans responded yet again with a run in the bottom of the frame. Therres ripped a triple into right center to lead off of Spartans' half. She then scooted home on a Sara Thacker groundout. That fifth run would provide the Spartan hurler with enough insurance, with York leading 5-2, heading into the latter frames.

In the top of the seventh, McDaniel threatened to cut into the Spartan advantage with runners on second and third with two outs. Fittingly however, Therres brought her tremendous career with the York program to an end with a strikeout to close the game, the season, and her and Schlorff's careers.

Therres, a second-team All-CAC selection, finishes the 2012 campaign sporting a 13-15 record having throughout 183.2 of York's 245 innings this season. She struck out 74 batters and posted a 3.81 earned run average. For her career, Therres registered a 65-42 mark over her four seasons, including a career best 27-6 campaign in 2010. For her career she posted a 2.43 ERA and tossed 676.2 innings. Her 65 career victories, 676.2 innings are both Spartan program records while her 332 strikeouts ranks second all-time in York softball history.

Fellow senior Schlorff finishes her three seasons with the Green and White with a .302 career batting average over her 111 contests. She registered .401 slugging percentage and a .368 on-base percentage.

PHOTOS: Top - Brittany Therres in the circle during York's double-header against McDaniel on Wednesday. Bottom - Brittany Schlorff in the field during the Spartans' Wednesday tilt. Courtesy of Alexis Pierce - York College (Pa.) Athletic Communications Practicum Student.